Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Our second day in Ireland was completely filled by a driving tour of the Ring of Beara in southwest Ireland which starts in Kenmare and ends in Glengarrief. It is a rugged small windy road along the coast line that gives you stunning views of the mountains, valleys, rivers, coast line and the sheep. The sheep are everywhere, speckled all over the country side which was one of Steph's favorite parts. At one point she had taken so many pictures of the sheep I had to take the camera away from her.

One stop along the way is Glen Inchaquin Park. This is a locally run park and I mean locally because it is a man and his wife running the park visitor center out of there home. Here you will find a waterfall over a rocky cliff and a beautiful valley specked with sheep. The park also offers many hiking trails through the valley and on the mountain. We took a short hike over the river and up the mountain. Steph took a good shot of me here. The park was also featured on a Passport to Europe episode covering County Cork Ireland!

We stopped for lunch at this small restaurant that turned out to be 4km from the main road. When we turned off looking for it we did not know it was so far off the road but it was worth it. It had an amazing view of the mountains and lake sitting at the base. It was one of my favorite spots on the trip. I wanted to lay in the sun and take a nap, especially after the great lunch of the local seafood of mussels and salmon.

The drive took us all day because we kept stopping along the way to take pictures and enjoy the magnificent views like this. Once we made the loop we ran across these cool tunnels.

The words to describe the driving tour don't do it justice so hopefully the pictures will.